Sunday, April 19, 2009

Sunday 04/19 (Very) Quickie

For those of us who enjoy schadenfreude when it comes to Boston and New York sports teams, yesterday was a banner day. It's hard to know what to enjoy more:

*The defending champ Celtics losing Game 1 of their first-round playoff series to the Bulls in Boston, after Derrick Rose rewrote the history books and put on a show?

*Or the Yankees giving up 14 runs in a single inning to the Indians, en route to a 22-4 pasting that -- until it is displaced, which may take a while -- defines the new Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees thing was more humiliating, but the Celtics thing had more impact -- it's the playoffs and they are the defending champs...at home.

More NBA: Good for the Mavs, getting off the schneid on the road in the playoffs and solving the Spurs in San Antonio to take Game 1 and ... wow, the Rockets took that whole "up-and-coming" thing for the Blazers and showed them where they can shove it -- who needs T-Mac when you've got Aaron Brooks?... And, yes, the Cavs dominated.

MLB: What was that about Tim Lincecum being off to a slow start? 8 IP, 0 ER, 13 Ks, in what was arguably the best single-game performance by a pitcher yet this season. (The only problem for his fantasy owners? A no-decision!)

How about the team stories of the year in each league?

*Marlins: The story of the year in MLB -- the Marlins -- rolls along: Florida is 10-1 after surviving a slugfest with the Nats. Jeremy Hermida: 2 HR, 5 RBI.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers won their 7th straight (Manny 2 HR). In a season of unexpected results, LA winning behind Manny isn't one of them.

Spring football: Florida's game was pretty subdued -- tons of fans, not many fireworks. The future was on display -- backup QB John Brantley throws a nicer ball than Tim Tebow (which isn't hard, let's be honest) and backup WRs Frankie Hammond and TJ Lawrence looked like future studs. These guys have all the pressure -- they'll be charged with leading a back-to-back national champion, after all. (Alabama? What? Oh, sorry: I was watching the Celtics-Bulls game and we didn't get to the Bama spring game until the 2nd quarter.)

NHL: I can't belive the Caps are going to go out like such losers. They are down 0-2 -- after playing two games in DC. What a disappointing ending after such an amazing regular season.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.